A great baseball catcher once made famous the phrase “it’s déjà vu all over again.”
Tuesday night at Tropicana Field another catcher channeled his inner Yogi Berra, accomplishing a remarkable feat for the second consecutive game.
Tampa Bay’s Curt Casali launches a HR off former teammate David Price on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. Casali finished the game with 2 HR’s, the second straight 2-HR game for the rookie catcher and 2007 NCHS grad. Photo: Contributed
Just one night after belting two home runs against the Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays backstop Curt Casali homered twice in the same game, this time off former teammate and fellow Vanderbilt alum David Price, who could do nothing but smile as the 2007 New Canaan High School grad rounded the bases.
“I am just so excited for him, because this is a life-long dream for him,” Casali’s former coach at NCHS Mark Rearick told NewCanaanite.com.“It looked like Price was really happy for him.”
Curt Casali heads home after hitting his second HR of the night, July 28, 2015. Photo: Contributed
Casali’s first homer was a two-run shot that extended the Rays’ lead over Detroit to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Home run number two came in the sixth as Casali’s solo blast made it 5-1 Rays. Casali also had a single in the second inning, finishing the night with a stellar 3-for-4 night with two HR’s, three RBI and two runs scored—an identical line to his game on Monday night. His average rose to .300 with seven HR’s and 11 RBI on the season. Tuesday’s game marked Casali’s fourth consecutive start behind the plate for Tampa.
Curt Casali takes a curtain call after hitting his second HR of the night, July 28, 2015. Photo: Contributed
“It’s just a surreal experience,” Lou Casali told NewCanaanite.com as he watched his son lead Tampa to an eventual 10-2 win over Detroit. “It’s one thing to hit a big league home run, but to get on a run like this—it’s just incredible to watch. We’re going to enjoy it while it lasts, and hopefully this is the start of a long run in the big leagues.”
Lou Casali had the chance to talk to Curt briefly after last night’s game, and said that he was “spent” but happy that the game’s outcome was a win for the Rays.
“He’s enjoying it and wants to keep working hard…he wants more of it,” Casali said. “That’s what you want as a pro player. They get paid now, but even when he wasn’t getting paid the win was always the most important objective.”